Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Introduction:
The Union Workers program had arisen in 1971 from the sense that surprisingly little was popularly known about the traditions, the feelings, the sense of pride and craftsmanship of the union worker. If we were to have a true understanding of contemporary American folk culture, Festival organizers believed, the perspectives of working Americans of all types need to be presented in broadly based cultural forums. It was in part to celebrate the union worker's considerable contribution to America's cultural and social fabric that member unions of AFL-CIO were invited to take part in the Festival. The American worker had an opportunity here to have a voice in a program designed to reach all America via the stage of a prestigious American cultural institution.
American labor groups were represented at the 1972 Festival because their members were living tradition bearers. In most people's thinking at the time, there was a sharp distinction between the dying crafts of rural America and the viable trades of urban America's workers. The Smithsonian saw the separation as an artificial one, usually based on only a limited knowledge of the occupation of one or the other group. In terms of the training or apprenticeship processes, the passing on of a body of technical knowledge, personal skills, and tricks of the trade from master craftsman to green apprentice is very little different whether one was doing dry-wall stone masonry in Vermont or laying bricks in downtown Philadelphia.
At the 1972 Festival, union workers showed examples of present-day skills and crafts of needletrades workers, Iithographers, carpenters, wheelwrights, and molders. Four unions were featured: the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, the International Molders and Allied Workers Union and the Lithographers and Photoengravers International Union. In some cases, the tools and machinery used today clearly date from another era. In other instances, new tools and machines, new skills and crafts have been developed. All were demonstrated through presentations and workshops that highlighted the transmission of traditional skills and knowledge from one worker to another. The presentations of trades was complemented by a diverse musical program, made possible by support from the American Federation of Musicians and the Music Performance Trust Funds, that had two themes: one was the songs closely connected to particular occupations and industries or to the task of organizing workers, and the other was the blues music of black working people, whether in rural or urban settings.
The Union Workers program was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor and AFL-CIO. Mark Mason served as Labor Program Coordinator.
Participants:
International Ladies' Garment Workers Union
Louis Stuhlberg, President
Exhibit Chairmen:
Jasper Payton, Jr.
Betsy Raymond
Gus Tyler
Lester Blumstein, Brooklyn, New York
Mary Bowden, Baltimore, Maryland
Eligia Fernandez, 1915-1983, Long Island City, New York
Mathias Greenberg, Brooklyn, New York
Helen Jackson, Powhatan, Virginia
Evelyn Ledbetter, Petersburg, West Virginia
Gloria Maldonado, New York, New York
Etta Mae Owen, 1928-2000, Baltimore, Maryland
George Pretlow, 1900-1986, Baltimore, Maryland
Sandra Saunders, Baltimore, Maryland
Augustine Schiavo, 1909-1994, Brooklyn, New York
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
William Sidell, President
Exhibit Chairmen:
Charles L. Allen
James E. Tinkcom
James David Bouchard, Miami, Florida
Charles Phillip Burke, Pasadena, Texas
William S. Champ, Oxon Hill, Maryland
Vance A. Gray, Delaware City, Delaware
Anthony Macciocca, 1925-2003, Yeadon, Pennsylvania
Carl Norred, Holden, Louisiana
William R. Schultz, Whitemarsh, Maryland
International Molders and Allied Workers Union
Draper Doyal, President
Exhibit Chairmen:
Carl Studenroth
James E. Wolfe
Leonard Davis, 1918-2004, Sidney, 0hio
Alex Grant, 1940-2004, Savannah, Georgia
Sylvester Hoying, 1924-2002, Sidney, 0hio
Lithographers and Photoengravers International Union
Kenneth J. Brown, President
Exhibit Chairmen:
Harvey Lovin
Walter Lypka
John A. Stagg
Glen A. Adams, Colmar Manor, Maryland
Thomas G. Carberry, Oxon Hill, Maryland
Tommy Cummings, Toronto, Canada
George C. Jones, Rockville, Maryland
Richard R. Latimer, Silver Hill, Maryland
American Federation of Musicians
Hal C. Davis, President
in cooperation with
The Music Performance Trust Funds
Kenneth E. Raine, Trustee
(funding performers on the Union Workers stage)
Union Workers' Workshops and Concerts
Discussion leaders:
Kenneth S. Goldstein
Archie Green
Performers:
Howard Armstrong, 1909-2003
Tom Armstrong
Carey Bell, 1936-
Ted Bogan, 1913-1990
Saul Broudy
Sam Chatmon, 1899-1983
Sarah Cleveland, 1905-1987
Elizabeth Cotten, 1895-1987
Jimmy "Fast Fingers" Dawkins, 1936-2013
Joe Glazer, 1918-2006
Mitch Greenhill
Hacksaw Harney, 1902-1973
Joe Harper
Ted Harvey, 1930-
Roscoe Holcomb, 1912-1981
John Jackson, 1924-2002
Norman Kennedy, 1934-
Willie Kent, 1936-
Carl Martin, 1906-1979
Willie Morris, 1906-
Hoyle Osborne
Eugene Pearson
Brewer Phillips, 1924-1999
U. Utah Phillips, 1935-2008
A.L. Phipps (1916-1995) Family
Eugene Powell, 1908-1998
Jean Ritchie, 1922-2015
Alice Seeger, 1934-
Mike Seeger, 1933-2009
Sunnyland Slim, 1907-1995
Rosalie Sorrels, 1933-
Hound Dog Taylor, 1915-1975
Walter Vinson, 1901-1975
Willie Williams
Collection Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1972 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
